Research Paper on College Student Success

College Students Starting Out: A Pathway to Success

Introduction/Background

On average, about one-third of new college students do not go back to school after their first year (Goldsmith, 1996). While this rate may be higher for community colleges than other four-year universities, it is still an alarming fact. College freshman may not return to college the next year for a number of different reasons,  justifiable ones even, but that does not change the fact that people are not getting the education they truly need to succeed in the real world. Some students may not have the finances needed for college, or they may just have poor grades (Goldsmith, 1996). There is a way, though, for students to have an improved experience while attending college. College students starting out have a better chance of being successful when they work toward accomplishing intrinsic goals, have a good sense of self-efficacy, and establish positive social relationships.

Lines of Argument

When new college students work toward accomplishing intrinsic goals, they are better able to satisfy their needs. To better understand this, one must first know what intrinsic goals are. According to Schmuck et al. (2000), "Intrinsic goals (e.g., self- acceptance, affiliation, community feeling, and physical fitness) are those which are inherently satisfying to pursue because they are likely to satisfy innate psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, competence, and growth" (pg. 225-226). To further expand on that, individuals who pursue and work at achieving intrinsic goals will often have experiences that help bring them happiness into their lives, while also taking care of some of their personal needs (Schmuck et al., 2000). Happiness and the ability to take care of one's needs are things that can lead to less stress, which in turn leads to being able to focus more on school. Different things bring people happiness, so religious beliefs can also go hand-in-hand with intrinsic goals. In a study involving certain Asian colleges, when students had some sort of religiosity, they were less stressed overall, and they had a higher sense of well-being (Chai et al., 2012).  There are many intrinsic goals that are beneficial to students starting out in college.

Because there are intrinsic goals, there are extrinsic goals. Extrinsic goals are more focused on gaining rewards and recognition, such as financial success and popularity. When people focus on their extrinsic goals, they are usually trying to gain something, which prevents them from seeing the big picture. This leads to stressful behavior and activities that do not have their well-being in mind, or their health (Schmuck et al., 2000). Overall, when one has intrinsic goals in mind, they are working toward improving and being better than they were before, which will then lead to more success than if they are thinking of extrinsic goals. Goals help us to succeed when used right (Dompnier et al., 2013).

A good sense of self-efficacy helps students to succeed in their college career later on. Self-efficacy is defined as, "beliefs in one's ability to organize and perform courses of action to execute designated behavioral goals," according to Davidson et al. (2012, pg. 337). It is said that when a person has high self-efficacy, they will often see threatening situations as a way to challenge themselves, and to set higher goals than if they had low self-efficacy (Davidson et al., 2012). This is important for students to succeed so they can see hard assignments as a way to improve and gain more skills. Students will then be more motivated and perform well in tough circumstances. Also, when one has high self-efficacy, they usually have more work values. Duffy et al. (2007) mentioned that, "In general, work values have been shown to significantly predict career choice, and the congruence of work values with work environment has been shown to significantly predict job satisfaction and job performance " (pgs. 359-360). Deciding a career is a large problem among college students, and can even be the reason why they choose to stop going to school (Goldsmith, 1996). Self-efficacy helps solve many problems.

There are other things that work with self-efficacy to improve students' emotional well-being in college. One of those things is hope. Hope is one's belief in their ability to accomplish their goals, and being able to motivate themselves. Hope brings optimism, which helps with one's ability to cope with new situations and surroundings. This in turn helps students adjust to life in college, and get the kind of grades they hope to receive. There is also sense of coherence, which is how individuals see circumstances as manageable, and being able to overcome them. In other words, it is how people cope with stress (Davidson et al., 2012). When new students are able to handle the stresses of homework and exams, they can perform better, which boosts their self-efficacy. All of these factors contribute to one's resilience, or one's ability to keep going on when it seems difficult. Self-efficacy is truly important if a new student wants to be more successful in college. 

A student's first year of college can be significantly better when they establish positive social relationships. College can often be a transition time for students from depending upon family, to being around new peers constantly (Shim et al., 2012). When being a new student, it can be helpful to make new friends and relationships; it can make the college experience more exciting and joyful. It is important, though, to choose positive influences when choosing friends, or else the whole experience can turn into a bad thing. One of the benefits of college is being able to grow personally and socially. That growth is also intertwined with the satisfaction of one's time at school, growing academically, and being able flourish in new social environments. Many people struggle with trying to adjust socially, but setting goals for oneself is a way to overcome that. Shim et al. (2012) suggests that, "Social problems are intimately related to overall well-being and general success at college" (pg. 513). When students establish positive social relationships, they are promoting their overall well-being and general success, as well as learning to make new connections for the rest of their lives.

Opposing View

Some believe that when students drop out of college, school just isn't for them, and they have no hope of becoming better. Other arguments say that having a social development goal does not change the kind of student a person will be, or how anxious they could become (Shim et al., 2012). Another view is that college is a time for partying and having fun. The first argument can be refuted through many arguments; that just because someone was a poor student their freshman year of college, it does not mean they will always be a bad student. One should take into consideration the transition period from being dependent upon others, to being on one's own. The second argument can be taken seriously because of research behind the claim. Also, everyone is different, and will not react the same to having new social relationships at college. There are exceptions to every rule, and one exception could be that certain people prefer to not be overwhelmed with new people, and thrive off being able to do things without the influence of others. While the third argument is partly true, that does not mean that college is just a time to party. College is about hard work and dedication, with the bonus of being able to meet new people, and listen to their ideas. College is a time for many good and wholesome activities.

Conclusion

Research has shown that establishing positive social relationships, working toward accomplishing intrinsic goals, and having a good sense of self-efficacy can greatly improve the college experience for new students. When students work toward positive goals and relationships, they are often happier and have a greater well-being overall. It is also important for a person to believe in themselves if they plan on succeeding in school, and in life. When one believes in themselves, they are motivated to go and do the things they have set their mind to. College is a crucial part of life, and one might as well put all they have into making it a time of success and joy, instead of failure and misery. There are ways to accomplish that. If college students practice self-efficacy, accomplish intrinsic goals, and establish positive relationships, they can have an overall better time at college than if they do not. There is a way for students to succeed; they just have to put some effort into it first.

References

Chai, P. M., Krägeloh, C. U., Shepherd, D., & Billington, R. (2012). Stress and quality of life in international and domestic university students: cultural differences in the use of religious coping. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 15(3), 265-277.

Davidson, O. B., Feldman, D. B., & Margalit, M. (2012). A focused intervention for 1st-year college students: Promoting hope, sense of coherence, and self-efficacy. Journal of Psychology, 146(3), 333-352.

Dompnier, B., Darnon, C., & Butera, F. (2013). When performance-approach goals predict academic achievement and when they do not: A social value approach. British Journal of Social Psychology, 52(3), 587-596.

Duffy, R. D., & Sedlacek, W. E. (2007). The work values of first-year college students: Exploring group differences. The Career Development Quarterly, 55(4), 359-364.

Goldsmith, E. B. (1996). Resource management for individuals and families(5th ed.). Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Pub.

Schmuck, P., Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic goals: Their structure and relationship to well-being in German and U S college students. Social Indicators Research, 50(2), 225-241.

Shim, S., & Ryan, A. (2012). What do students want socially when they arrive at college? Implications of social achievement goals for social behaviors and adjustment during the first semester of college. Motivation & Emotion, 36(4), 504-515.